Neighbors Come Together To Help Woman Maintain Hamilton Home

HAMILTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- It was a case of neighbor helping neighbor in a New Jersey town.

A community came together to help a homeowner who just couldn't maintain her property anymore.

When Adam and Kristen Polhemus moved into their home on Church Street in Hamilton, they made a point to get to know their neighbors -- especially their highly private neighbor Ann Glancey.

"When Ann got violation notices we knew we had to do something," Adam told CBS2's Meg Baker.

She was receiving notices from the township, and clearly needed some help around the house.

"I've lived in the house so long, I'm nearly becoming an antique myself," Ann said.

The fines for violations were adding up to $3,000 per day -- a price the homeowner could not afford to pay or fix.

Adam put the word out.

"The labor was just, all of the people saw the messages then said I want to be a part of that. I want to help someone," he said.

They did some major landscaping, scraped off the peeling lead paint, and repainted the home.

"This was a gesture that was sort of extraordinary on the part of neighbors," Ann said.

With all of the craziness in life, neighbor Kyle Gulsby said the acts of kindness helped to reconnect everyone.

"Her house was kind of an eyesore because she wasn't able to do a lot of the stuff. So having the community come together as a whole was a great opportunity for everyone to meet up again," he said.

Ann couldn't help but feel the love.

"Quite an expression of generosity and thoughtfulness," she said.

"We try to rebuild lives one person at a times, and that starts right here in the neighborhood," Kristin added.

They hope the sense of caring extends to others.